Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) Offers One Million Dollars for Research on Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century

(ALEXANDRIA, Va.) — The Water Environment Research Foundation seeks proposals for research to generate the science and engineering to improve and/or evaluate promising innovative technologies and techniques to reduce the cost and improve the effectiveness of operation, maintenance, management, and replacement of aging and failing wastewater and stormwater conveyance and treatment infrastructure.

This round of ongoing research on our nation’s aging infrastructure will be conducted under the WERF-U.S. EPA cooperative agreement Innovation and Research for Water Infrastructure for the 21st Century - a public-private research approach. Potable water projects will be funded concurrently under a separate notice from The Water Research Foundation (WaterRF). Aging and deteriorating water infrastructure is a priority issue for EPA. According to a 2008 Clean Water Needs Survey estimates, capital investment needs of greater than $298 billion over the next 20 years were documented.

Approximately $1,000,000 is available to fund as many high-impact projects as possible under this RFP. Collaboration and partnerships with wastewater and/or stormwater utilities are encouraged. For a summary of research projects currently underway, please follow this link. WERF will allocate funds in a manner that proposed research outcomes will be of immediate and beneficial use to the wastewater and/or stormwater community. Gaps identified and research questions from the U.S. EPA Research Plan (2007) should be considered when proposing research projects.
The request for proposals and complete instructions are [[Requests_for_Proposa|available here]]. Contact Program Director Walter Graf at (571) 384-2102 or wgraf@werf.org for additional information. All proposals are due in WERF's offices by 4:00 p.m. EDT, March 6, 2012.

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The Water Environment Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed in 1989, is America's leading independent scientific research organization dedicated to wastewater and stormwater issues.